Time Management Self Improvement

“I never seem to have any time for myself. What can I do?”

When my two year old followed me to the toilet today I had very similar thought to
yours. As busy parents we can often feel like there is no time for us and we are
forever running around after others. We can be great at looking after everyone else
and so often put ourselves at the bottom of the list.

Many of the mums I coach are surprised when I tell them it is time to start putting
themselves first. If you are running on half full this affects every area of your life -
your relationships, health or work - and without doubt how good you feel about
looking after your children.

I’m sure you will have noticed that when you’re happy your children are happy too
so for the next week make this a priority.

Write a list of all the things that you would like to do for yourself. What is the one
thing you have been putting off? These can be simple things from calling a friend
without being disturbed to booking a haircut, taking a bath or reading the magazine
you bought a month ago.

Choose at least one thing that you are going to over the next week and actually
write down when you are going to do it. Put down the date and the time when you
are going to make this happen. If you need someone to look after the children for a
few hours, call them now. Or at least firmly plan how you are going to ensure your
time is your own.

Enjoy this time that you have created for yourself and you will be amazed at the
results! Let me know how you get on.

Debbie Lewis is a specialist parent coach who regularly contributes on parenting
issues to national and regional media including Channel 5’s Trisha Goddard Show.

She has worked for over ten years with adults and children in a broad range of jobs
including nanny and parenting consultant.

Debbie is professionally trained in parenting skills, child development and
family assessment and a registered member of The Parenting and Education Support
Forum, The General Social Care Council, an NLP Practitioner and accredited life
coach.

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Why Read?

It’s been said that there are three kinds of knowledge:

What you know
What you know that you don’t know, and
What you don’t know that you don’t know.

What you know is an asset.

What you know that you don’t know isn’t too difficult to handle.
You can go out and find out!

But what you don’t know that you don’t know could be dangerous — to your life/health/career/business etc. It’s information that you don’t know exists. It could cost you your job, promotion, business, or something worse.

What you don’t know can, and often does, harm you. In fact, unknown to you it could be holding you back this very minute.

However, if you develop the habit of reading for self improvement, you set yourself up to be “found” by such knowledge. It comes to you each time you open a book, even though you never knew it was there.

Imagine this: you’re walking along innocently, “in the line of fire” of some great information, and all of a sudden you are “hit” by a new discovery! If you will just stay in the line of fire (by reading, reading and reading some more), you will keep on getting “hit”. And there’s something about this habit that causes you to attract just the information you need!

I am an avid, voracious reader. I read anything that’s written in English, online or offline! A while ago, I needed some info about marketing one’s services. I set a weekly goal to read up on the subject, though I had no idea where I would find the material, or the time to read it either! Lo and behold! Being a habitual reader, all week long I was “found out and followed” by books, articles, pop-up boxes and spam mail on marketing your services. Every where I turned, it was there!

If you develop the habit of reading, you will never be at a loss for information. You will either know what you need to know, know where to find it, know some one who knows it, or it will come looking for you!

Over time you will become a resource person and a magnet for information. Now how beneficial could that be to your career or business?

I once worked with colleagues who often came to me when they were looking for information. If a problem defied solution they made sure to ask me. I didn’t always have the answers, but if I didn’t, I knew where to find them! My boss wrote in my appraisal that I was “an asset to this establishment.”
To get ahead in today’s world you must develop a reading habit; stay in the line of fire of good, wholesome information, and get “hit” each time there’s an update!

Is time a problem for you? Here are

10 tips for finding the time to read:

1. Take a book with you wherever you go, make use of time in the traffic, waiting in receptions, even time in the loo!

2. Cut back on TV viewing. What does it profit a man (or woman) to watch TV all day and suffer from a dearth of information?

3. To find time for new things you must throw out some old ones. What pastimes are no longer profitable? Or less profitable than reading? Ditch them!

4. Make friends with people who read. Their good reading habits will rub off on you.

5. Join a reading group. You’ll be kept busy with reading assignments, and will somehow have to make the time. No reading groups near you? Create one!

6. Delegate as much work as you possibly can, whether it’s office work or house work. Use the free time to “get in the line of fire” of some good information!
7. Set goals for self-improvement. Make reading part of your strategy. Then you will read to reach your goals.

8. Set up a corner of your home to be the perfect reading corner - rocking chair/reading desk and chair, good lighting, peaceful and quiet, soft colours, gentle on the eyes, out-of-bounds to kids - you know what I mean! Just looking at the place will draw you to sit there and read!

9. Block out 30 minutes to one hour of your day (or whatever suits you) for reading. Tell everyone you cannot be disturbed. Switch off all phones. Go where no one can find you. Do whatever it takes to have that time uninterrupted and just read.

10. Get organized; be a better time manager. It’s amazing how much time we throw away chatting on the phone, hanging out with friends, lingering after a meeting or waiting around for one thing or the other. You could kill two birds with one stone by reading while you’re at the hairdresser’s or the mechanic’s. Examine the way you spend your time. You’ll find plenty of it not properly utilized.

I hope you are inspired to begin reading, whether for pleasure or self-improvement. There is no such thing as spare time. If you need time you’ve got to create it. And now you have no excuse! So go on out and get some books, and get “hit” with some new information!

Copyright 2005 Oma Edoja

Oma Edoja is a writer, motivational speaker and infopreneur. She writes on a variety of topics, but mainly motivational/inspirational/self-help. She is looking to work with editors and publishers who need writers. Oma may be contacted via her motivational ezine at http://up-mobile.blogspot.com

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Do you manage your time or does your time manage you?
Do you start your day knowing what you want to achieve today and how you are going to achieve it?

Time management is a skill. You should learn the basics and learn how to implement it.

Following a thorough research on the topic of time management , I strongly suggest you use the most important time management tip - delegate
“Do not do what you do not have to do”
You had enough time to realize what you are good at and what you are not so good at. Hand over things you are not so good at to others. Make people work for you.

Take a look at some of the delegating examples below. Create a personal effective time management using delegation techniques.

1. Take some one to sort your mail - most of the mail we get is junk mail or routine mail messages. Make someone sort the mail for you to manage your time better.

2. Send others to meetings - Meeting are great time wasters. When you are invited to meetings make sure you know what the purpose of the meeting is. If you do not have real contribution send some one else to the meeting. Give him a brief and make sure he gives you a summary of the meeting after it is finished.

3. Take a secretary - Your life must be organized. Most of us tend to lose our focus of the important things due to the amount of tasks we have to do. Prioritizing the different tasks and finding the right balance between business, family etc. is almost impossible.

Make it easier. Delegate it. You will soon not understand how you have organized your life without a secretary. Let the secretary manage your time - let her decide when you come and go from work, let her schedule meetings for you and most important let her handle all paper work and mails.

Find more time management tips on http://www.911makemoretime.com. It’s all about time management - The most comprehensive resource for time management skiils, Time Management Techniques, Time Management tips, Personal goals etc. -
http://www.911makemoretime.com

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